People nominee

Every Saturday morning thousands of indigenous Ecuadorians arrive at the Mercado de Animales in Otavalo. I was interested in the people, how they related to one another and to their animals. The women seemed to dominate the buying and selling of the small animals - mostly chickens and guinea pigs (known as cuy) that were prized as delicacies for special occasions.

I first started taking photographs seriously in 1967 with my inexpensive Yashica Mat twin lense reflex, a camera that I loved for its 2 1/4 square negative and the fact that I was looking down into a box and not pointing a long intimidating lense at the subject. Since I was mostly interested in people it was perfect. Everything I shot was in black and white, which I still prefer. Now I shoot only 35 and only digital. So something has been gained but something has also been lost.
Up until last year, I showed my work to almost no one. Last year I launched a website and started to enter online photo contests. I won three honorable mentions earlier this year for Monovision. I've been enjoying the process.